16 May 2014

Strings of the Heart by Katie Ashley- Book Review

Title: Strings of the Heart

Author: Katie Ashley

Expected Release: May 12th

Twenty year old, Allison Slater has been in love with her brother’s bandmate, Rhys McGowan, since she was fifteen years old. But to him, she’ll always be Jake’s little sister and off limits. Now a college sophomore and licking her wounds from a bad breakup, she sets her sights on making Rhys see her as someone he could date…maybe even love. Her opportunity comes when Rhys visits his parents in Savannah where she is attending college. But the night she’s dreamed of turns to heart-break, and she realizes she’ll never be the one for Rhys.For Rhys McGowan, his nightmare began when he woke up, naked and hung-over, next to his bandmate’s little sister. Unable to remember a thing from the previous night, he only makes matters worse by lying to Allison about not being interested in her. The truth is he’s spent the last year to ignore his body’s reaction whenever Allison is around. His resolve is tested when Allison comes on tour with Runaway Train, as both Jake and Abby’s nanny and to fulfill her fashion design internship. The more time he spends with her in the close quarters of the bus, the harder it is for him to resist.Will Rhys realize that having a relationship with Allison is worth fighting for even if it means that he has to fight his best friend for a chance?

"Regardless of the heartache
to come, one day he would really be mine."

Allison Slater had been in love with Rhys since she was
fifteen years old, but to him she will always be Jake’s little sister, and
there was no way he was breaking his trust. She was off limits since then, and
he had to keep his dick in his pants five years later when she grew up to be
one of the most beautiful and sexiest women he ever met.

She dated, but he would always occupy that big special
place in her heart. At twenty, she was ready for him. She would let him see
that she can be someone he can date, have a relationship with and perhaps love.
He needs to see her as a woman, as a lover – and not a friend more so a little
sister. Their time in Savannah was the best timing. She was away from her
parents, and Jake. They had a grand time together, that’s why she wasn’t
prepared when he broke her heart. So much for assuming that he was into her
just as much as she was into him.

As for Rhys McGowan, it was hard to put a leash on what
he feels for his bandmate’s little sister. Much more waking next to her naked
in his bed. He tells her he’s not interested in her, which was not really true
because all he did these past few years was to deny that there was a shift in
his feelings for Allison. Months later, she came aboard their tour for her
internship. It was the ultimate test of his control – how can be possibly act
normal around Jake and Abby when Allison drives him crazy? She was everything
he wanted, all he had to do was to admit it.

I had a love-hate relationship with Rhys. He’s almost the
total package if not for the fact that he’s not emotionally available. He’s
smart, talented, and oh-so-sexy! He dropped out of law school and left the
mansion he grew up in to fulfill his dreams with the band. But what others don’t
know about him, is despite the fact that he didn’t grow up with love in his
house, he can give out love to people close to him – the band and his sister,
Ellie, whom I deeply adore, and yes, which made me loved him more. The way he
treated his sister, the way he takes good care of her is the action of a man
who knows how to love. I wish he can extend it to Allison. I mean, the girl
have loved him forever, until when will she wait? The moment he broke her
heart, I can hear it shattering from where I was reading. It was so heartless
of him, and a little bit dense. Arggghhh. What the heck is wrong with him?!

Allison, on the other hand, I greatly admire for her bravery
in telling him what she feels and for calling him out in the process. I love
the combination of sweetness and courage in her personality. She is loved by many,
but she only loved one guy since she was young – and yeah, my heart went out to
her. The pain of unrequited love, especially when you have taken care of the
emotion for as long as you can remember can be quite hard to swallow. She’s
beautiful, she can have anyone she wants, why can’t Rhys want her?

I finished this book in one day! Couldn’t help myself
from continuously reading from one page to the next, wanting to know how their
love story will end. But I did love the ending, and found it soooo funny how
Jake discovered them. It was one of those OH-MY-GOD-YOU-BETTER-RUN moments in
the books, and you can almost hear the fast thumping of their hearts. Yay.
Awkward moment! The Jake-moment? Awww. You will adore Jake even more for being
a sweet, sweet and understanding big brother (well, after he got his fist on
Rhys first).

Once again, Katie Ashley gives us a book that will make
us swoon, break our hearts, make us cry and make us fall in love again. You
will love every page, savor each scenes and practically squirm with every
steamy scenes. Although it pains me that one of the Runaway Train members is
already taken, both Rhys and Allison deserved their happy ending.

✪Complimentary Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.✪

Katie Ashley is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of The Proposition. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Harry Potter, Shakespeare, Supernatural, Designing Women, and Scooby-Doo.

She spent 11 1/2 years educating the Youth of America aka teaching MS and HS English until she left to write full time in December 2012.

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